PERSIAN 

 CYCLAMEN. 



Cyclamen Fersicum. 



PERSIAN sowbread is not 

 often i)ut to the use the 

 name suggests for it^ but 

 if the pigs had access to 

 the florist's treasures, they 

 would no doubt appreciate 

 the flavour of the round 

 corms or bulbous roots of 

 the cyclamens. It would be 

 a veritable case of casting 

 pearls before swine to permit 

 the experiment, and it is 

 more agreeable to confine 

 our attention to the flowers 

 and give no further thought 

 to the possibility of convert- 

 ing the ' roots into mild 

 pork. Although introduced 

 at least as early as the 

 middle of the eighteenth century, this must be regarded 

 as quite a modern plant, for its proper cultivation may 

 be spoken of as a recent discovery. It was the settled 

 custom of gardeners to give the plant careful frame culti- 

 vation until it flowered, and then to " dry it off " and 



